About Us

Heritage Garage is the one-stop shop for all your Classic Mini needs. With over 40 years of personal Mini experience, my goal is to offer the best service and the best parts prices to the growing number of Mini owners nationwide. In recent years, at the request of our customers, we have also expanded our workshop to handle all the service needs of the new generation MINI.

Minis are in my blood. I dragged my first Mini home from a Scottish scrap yard when I was sixteen. It cost me the equivalent of about $5. That was about half a week's pay at the time working as an apprentice mechanic. I still remember the plate number. Every motor head knows you never forget your first love! It became my daily driver for several years before meeting an untimely demise in the wee hours of the morning --on a lonely highland road after a night on the town. That was my first-but certainly not my last-Mini. Forty plus years later I have truly lost count of the number that have passed through my hands.

Fast forward to 1991. I was living in California and the Mini bug began itching again. I tracked down a likely restoration candidate through the local Mini club and once again my garage was knee deep in Mini parts. I was working for a Jaguar shop at the time, and with a new family at home, progress on the Mini was slow. One day I got a call from a guy who heard I had the Mini and he wanted to buy it for a race project. A deal was made with the promise to have me come and watch it race when it was track ready. A few months later I went to Willow Springs Racetrack near Palmdale, CA to watch it run. There were several Minis racing that day and I came home with a new plan. I was going racing. So after a furious scour through the newspapers (These were the days before internet, Craigslist or eBay.) I had found a 1964 Cooper within 10 miles of my house.

This time I was determined, and within a few months my first vintage race Mini, #441 was ready to go. Before Hoosier came along with their bias ply 10' treaded race tire, we all ran on the trusty Yokahama A008 radial which when pushed past their limits made for some interesting racing and unplanned direction changes.

There were probably 8 to 10 Minis in the Southern California Race Club back then and Saturday night in the pits saw lots of late night wrenching --from cylinder heads off to wheel hubs apart and sometimes even whole engines in pieces. Luckily I was still working at the Jaguar shop so I had access to all the tools and technical assistance I needed during the week in order to avoid the weekend teardowns unlike my competitors. It didn't take long for other racers to notice I was sitting back drinking beer while they were wrenching (and drinking beer). Before long I had a nice little side business doing Mini repairs.

In 1993, I went from being an employee to self employed. I was still primarily doing Jaguar and Range Rover service with Minis filling in the fun time. By 2000 I had become tired of keeping up with technology in the newer cars and really enjoyed the more creative, hands on approach needed for the classics. I had more Mini work than I could keep up with so the Jaguar - Range Rover business was sold off and Heritage Garage was born.

Plans to stay small did not last long with Minis coming in from all over the country along with a demand for a reliable and price conscious parts source.

Today, our 4,000 sq. foot workshop can handle everything from a routine service to full bumper to bumper restorations. Our in house paint and body department working in conjunction with the mechanic shop has produced several show winning Minis in recent years. We are also proud to support several local vintage race Minis, and our Heritage built power units have an excellent reputation for performance and longevity.

Because the Heritage workshop is using the same parts we sell, our mail order parts department carries one of the most complete inventories in the country. All Heritage employees are experienced Mini owners who can help you find the right part for your car.

I encourage you to call Heritage Garage the next time you need Mini or MINI assistance for parts or service.